Internal emails released under freedom of information laws showed that the Australian Border Force admitted to a failure to appropriately respond to allegations of sexual assault and abuse on Nauru. These findings were not disclosed to the recent parliamentary inquiry into allegations of abuse, self-harm and neglect of asylum seekers on Nauru.
Over 50 members of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, including many from the migration and refugee division, were advised that they will not be reappointed to their roles. The AAT has been heavily criticised in some newspapers and by immigration minister Peter Dutton for overturning government visa decisions in the past year.
The Australian reported that almost 100 asylum seekers who arrived in Australia have been issued adverse security assessments by ASIO or rejected after being flagged by the Five Eyes intelligence network. This includes ‘close to 30 people’ seeking entry through the one-off humanitarian intake of 12,000 Syrian refugees, recently confirmed by Immigration Minister Peter Dutton, as well as over 65 people who arrived by boat under the Labor government.
It was reported that a Syrian refugee has been transferred from Nauru to Cambodia for resettlement, as part of the Australian Government’s $55 million arrangement with the Cambodian government made three years ago. The Australian Government has not confirmed the arrival of this refugee.
Coptic Christian asylum seekers in Australia who were previously refused refugee status are being provided with visas to stay in this country while their cases for protection are reviewed. This decision followed violent attacks in Egypt, which have worsened in recent months.